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LET LOVE BE SINCERE

Friday, September 4, 2015

7 Quick Takes- at least every other is nice...

Let's get right into it, shall we? Fair warning, we are gonna go intense and then pleasant... back and forth throughout these takes. If I annoy you when I talk 'on the real' you might just want to read 2, 4, and 6. You've been warned.

(one)

Modesty.
I think it's important. I may have written this before, but I am really sick of people acting like to promote/discuss/encourage modesty is some type of play into the 'rape culture'. I'm gonna keep this ambiguous enough, but I was at this thing, with lots of young people and I was SHOCKED at the outfits girls were wearing. I am telling you, shorts that are JUST above the ol' butt cheeks- if even. And it appeared this was just a regular, normal thing. And these shirts, with the back cut out, so you can be edgy and show everyone your bra or back... it's weird. You can probably guess this as well, but I always see these things at Church events/activities. Hey parents, it's okay to tell your daughters to put clothes on when they are out in public. I'm just sayin'

(two)
Go Blue!
I was seriously crushed last night when Michigan lost :(
BUT, the fun was we let the boys stay up. Well, I shouldn't lie, it was fun for about a half hour...but then, I wanted to watch the game and my kids are little and they started to annoy me. However, all day the boys were so excited about game day and they were beyond excited about their 'snack tray' I made (thanks team facebook). Good times and family memories. Oh, but let's not do kick-off games at 8:30pm on a school night again... that part was NOT pleasant this morning.

you should really click on this picture so you can fully appreciate me Suzy homemaker abilities. Off the charts.

(three)

Just like I am in complete denial that anyone actually WANTS to, or is GOING to vote for Trump (I think it's a media invented hype)- I HAVE to believe that the majority of Americans really understand why it's not okay to ask my teenage daughter to get dressed in a locker room with a person who biologically is a young man, but believes they were born a woman. Like, we haven't really lost our minds as a society, have we? I get the extremists are alive and well (in the case of trump and this case) but the majority of us do agree it's ridiculous to ask my daughter to share an intimate place of often nakedness with someone who has a penis, right? I get compassion, I get trying to figure these things out for kids who are walking through life feeling different- but we can all agree this bathroom and locker room thing is insanity right? Please tell me I am right.

(four)

I'm gonna pack my hospital bag and Malia's bag this weekend. I am excited to do both. It's an exciting time. Oh, but you wanna know what is most exciting? I have purchased her most expensive item, and I am not even ashamed about it. Pink, adorable converse sneakers. Lemme just tell you, her 'coming home' outfit is going to be about the cutest thing you have ever seen... you've been warned.

(five)

Social Media is hard for me. Really hard for me lately. I think I'm on it too much (shocking) but part of the reason I think that is because I am totally on information overload. And part of the information overload is the knowledge of sheer awful in the world. From moral awful, to crazy people, to weird a$$ ideas that have taken over...to way more serious things, like Planned Parenthood being totally busted for their evil and no one really caring. It's a lot.

But it hit a high point for me this weekend. With the refugee situation in Syria. I have been keeping an eye on it for awhile, but then, like so many of you, I was horrified with the story of the sweet baby boy who drowned. I have linked the picture, but I do not suggest looking at it unless you are emotionally ready, and you may never be emotionally ready.

I have talked to three people this week about the Syrian situation and I have said, 'have you heard about the insanity of this refugee situation???'. All three of them have made reference to the fact that they actually 'have a job' (you know who you are, and I still love you) and don't have time to read the news all day or be on social media all day to stay up with these things. Several people have remarked this is why they don't go on social media, they don't want to know things like this.

Friends.

I don't know the solution to this all. And I agree that the constant overload of awful can't be good for me... but the solution? To just choose to stay ignorant? In a time when we can be more informed than ever? And yet it's hard to be informed, because the news is so swayed it's almost impossible to find a reliable source? I just don't know.
But I do know there was a period, a loooong period in history when we couldn't know these things, because we didn't have access to them. But now, we CAN know them because we DO have access to them... so what are we to do?
Maybe just pray, during this season of my life, but man, that seems like such a cop out.
Anyway, I am not saying anything profound here.
It's just thoughts I have.

(six)

I probably had one of the roughest nights in my pregnancy last night (after the wolverines lost). Back pain so I could barely walk, up every half hour (no joke) to use the bathroom with that back pain, a killer head ache, contractions that had me thinking it was time, etc... At the first kid's cry of 5:30- my whole soul screamed that I can't believe I have to do a day with three little ones who are, um, needy.
But then Aaron said, 'Mary, the offices close at 3:00 pm today'. The heavens have parted and I will be okay. Thank you Jesus.

(seven)

So, the Jehovah's Witnesses done TICKED me off this week. We get lots of door to door people and I know I am on some type of target list because I am a stay at home mom (the white van in the driveway gives me away). Whenever 'they' come to the door I try really hard to be polite. I take their tracks, I listen to them, I thank them and then I close the door. Part of me really admires what they do. But I have started noticing, they are doing it more often. Two weeks ago, they parked across the street from my house and rang the doorbell. I did the stop, drop and roll move that only stay at home moms are familiar with to pretend we weren't home. It took an awkwardly long time for them to leave, but then they eventually did.

However, this Monday, man oh man, they took it too far. They parked in FRONT of my house, like we are besties. They waited until they saw me in the window and then approached the house. I had just put the boys to bed (thanks for waking them up JWs) and I decided enough was enough. I opened the door before they even got there and said, "Can I help you?". It's the same couple that has come to my house for months. They started referencing my past kindness (GET me started) and I cut them off...
"Listen, I am really pregnant right now and I don't want to use naptime talking to you"
...
"Oh, how lovely, when are you due"
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"yea, so I don't have time to talk right now and I don't want to use naptime talking to people"
...
"We just have a three minute video we would like to show you!"
At this point, I am almost shaking mad.

"Listen, I am going to level with you, I work for the Catholic Church and I try to be nice but we are already a convicted household of faith and nothing you are going to say is going to change my mind"

AWKWARD
They had shocked faces and they were like, "okay God bless" then got in their car and pulled away. And of course, I felt terrible, for hours.

Until one of my good friends said, "Mary, we are friends and if I showed up at your house at 1:00 pm unannounced and asked you to watch a three minute video, you'd probably tell me off"-
#truestory

4 comments:

As I was reading this, I kept going, "yes, yes, yes, yes..." You get the idea haha! So here are some of my main comments on your post:

1. About the modesty thing-what I NEVER understand is that some women will say, "Men shouldn't objectify me, they should see me as a person," and then proceed to wear skintight, cleavage baring, or super short outfits. Mmhmm...right. I respect the women who say this, I am very good friends with some of them-but it doesn't make sense in my mind. If you want people to not just look at and objectify your body, don't dress like it!?!?! I mean, men aren't raving animals, they have loads of self-control-but we shouldn't make their job harder now, should we? It totally goes both ways!

3. Whether or not the guy in the locker room thinks he's a man or a woman, whether or not he's attracted to people of the same sex or different sex, I definitely am NOT comfortable with this. If I'm changing clothes in a locker room, I don't want other men to see me doing that, except my husband. And I don't think my desire to be changing in a female-only space is that unreasonable. I have used a coed restroom once in my life, but that was quite a bit different-the stall doors were floor-to-ceiling, and their were no urinals. While it was still weird seeing men at the sink while I washed my hands, I was still able to retain my proper comfort and privacy. But locker rooms or regular restrooms? Whole 'nother ballgame.

5. The whole overload of tragedy is something I have thought about quite a bit, actually. As Catholics, our response to suffering should be solidarity with each other and suffering. But in our world of social-media, news, technology, etc, we are given an overload of all the evil in the world. I wish I knew the answer, but I don't. Except what St. Pio is commonly attributed with: Pray, hope, and don't worry. Because the devil really, REALLY wants us to pull apart from others and despair, so we just can't do that. But we also can't stick our head in the sand and wait for the bad stuff to go away. I read the headlines every now and then, and pick special intentions to pray for. I especially try to keep up with intentions that are close to my heart, like the situations of the persecuted Christians in the Middle East. But there is no possible way that we can keep tabs on every single wrong thing in the world, and I don't think we necessarily should try. I feel like it's more worthwhile to focus in on certain areas, pray, and actually try to do something about it. For example, I have some dear friends who are very involved with the anti-human trafficking movement. They see this evil taking place in our own cities & towns, they keep up with news related to it, and they do something about it, like work at a safe house. Sure, there are plenty of other issues that could use their time and attention, but God has called them to actually work to change this particular situation and help those women out.

I don't know if any of that made any sense, my mind's still a little fuzzy this morning :P Thank you for such a thought-provoking post today!

I agree with you about social media! It is so depressing. The people who run planned parenthood aren't in jail but a lady who wouldn't issue a marriage licence is. WTF. I have to agree with you about the transgendered teen. I think most people agree that she shouldn't be in the girls room. Like what happened to protecting girls!!! I think it's an attention ploy from the teen. Everyone needs their 15 minutes I guess. My sister and I were just talking about teen fashions. We literally discussing being at the mall and seeing girls walking around with their literal ass cheeks out. It doesn't even look good. Put your cheeks back ladies! Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy. Hope it goes by quickly for you :)

(1) Yes, please tell them to put on clothes. This is ridiculous. My young son's eyes are right at your a$$ level. Eyeroll, ladies. I know it's been hot this week, but a few more inches of fabric on your hiney won't melt you into a puddle of sweat.(2) Sounds like fun! My kids love a football party even though they have no idea what is going on.(3) You are right. 100% right. I say all the girls pile into the "unisex" bathroom he was originally offered to change. Or, take their time going in there 1 by 1, thereby missing class. I would have my butt parked in the superintendent's office until this got resolved in a way that kept all penises out of my daughter's sight at all times.(4) Too cute!(5) Agreed(6) praying for you - the struggle is real and I only have insomnia and PMS rage.(7) I finally had to throw them off my porch too. Kept ringing the doorbell at nap time, then they showed up while I had a couple over learning NFP and wouldn't take the hint to go away. "We are Catholic, we will never walk away from Jesus in the Eucharist. You're time is best spent elsewhere."

I was shaking my head along at all these, but particularly the asscheeks that I have encountered at Starbucks ever since school got back in session. I was thisclose to tapping a girl on the shoulder at the creamer station last week and looking her dead in the eyes and saying, in all honestly, "sweetheart, you are a beautiful girl, but I have to point out to you that your ass is falling out of your shorts. And whether or not you want to be sized up like a piece of meat (and I'm assuming you do) you don't deserve to be, but every man in this coffee shop is looking at it right now."